Court Rules Judge Showed Bias For Law

February 01, 1993

Cook County — The Illinois Appellate Court has concluded that a Cook County judge showed a bias against the law that bars the systematic exclusion of blacks from a jury, and as a result a Chicago man convicted of a 1986 armed robbery deserves a new trial.

During the trial of Robert Banks, Judge Ronald Himel called the 1986 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court "the worst decision ever handed down." That decision prohibits prosecutors from excluding individuals from a jury solely because of race.

Because of his position on the law, the appeals court ruled last week that Himel allowed prosecutors to exclude blacks from the jury hearing Banks' case without a valid explanation. Banks had been convicted of a June 1986 armed robbery at a gas station.